Abstract:
Medicinal plants make important contributions in the healthcare system of indigenous people as
the main source of medicine for the majority of the rural populations. Indigenous people in
Ethiopia possess unique knowledge of plants on which they depend for food, medicine and
general utility. This close interaction and dependency of humans on plants is studied under the
field of ethnobotany. Totally, 355 informants participated in this study, from them 333were
household informants and 22 were traditional healers. Data was collected through
administrating semi-structured interview, observation and focused group discussions. In this
study, both qualitative and quantitative data were gathered. Quantitative data were analyzed by
descriptive statistics methods such as percentage and frequency whereas; qualitative data was
analyzed manually through thematic contents. Overall 97plant species were found which
catagories in to81 genera and 45 families to treat 61 different human and livestock ailments.
From these 55(56.7%) plants species were used only for human treatment, where as11(11.3%)
plant species were used for only livestock treatment and the remaining 31(32%) plants were used
for treating both human and livestock ailments. Stomach ache and ringworm were the major
human ailments in the study area while, anthrax was major livestock ailment. The Lamiaceae
family, containing 10 species (10.3%), was the dominant family over other families. In this
regard, cordia africanawasfirst based on preference and ranked first in its multi-usage. The
highest informant consensus value was obtained forCroton macrostachyus (0.98). Most
medicinal plants were herbs (48.5%) and the dominant habitat where medicinal plants collected
werehome garden (40.2%) followed by wild (39.2%). The best-harvested plant part was leaf
(40.2%) and the preferred route of application was oral (82.5%). The common method of
medicinal plant preparation was pounding (50.5%). In conclusion, medicinal plants are a vital
part of health care system for both human and livestock ailments and it also has multi-usage
beyond its medical purpose inKachabira distirict. Therefore, the local people should be trained,
encouraged and supported on how to conserve and manage medicinal plants
